Fordham Falls to Iona in City Championship, Faces Kellenberg In Intersectionals

****Saturday 6/8 is the Alumni Game and Family BBQ. Please help us make the organizing easier by letting us know if you plan to play or attend by emailing fptopcornerclub@gmail.com. We already have alums from the classes of ‘93, ‘95, ‘02, ‘06, and ‘11 committed, come out and represent your class.****

The Rams fell short in the CHSAA “AA” City Championship on Wednesday losing in a hard fought game to Iona Prep 9 - 3. Fordham had beaten Stepinac 6 - 4 earlier in the week in a sloppy, rain soaked game to advance into the championship.

The Prep’s season continues as they begin the CHSAA “AA” Intersectional playoffs with the league teams from Long Island. On Wednesday, Fordham will again face Kellenberg who is the #1 seed from Long Island. Iona Prep is the #1 seed from the New York City side and will play Stepinac who bested St. John the Baptist in the first round. Kellenberg is currently 10 - 7 including a 16 - 8 win over the Rams in April (recap) and the Firebirds also have wins over Stepinac (18 - 11) and Iona Prep (8 - 7).

Stepinac Recap (W 6 - 5)

The Rams capitalized on a two man up situation to open the scoring as Jack Stroligo ‘19 (Sleepy Hollow) found Stephen Zupicich ‘19 (Bronxville) who beat the Crusader keeper. The Rams dominated possession but very physical play and solid saves by Stepinac kept it a one goal game at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter saw most of the game’s scoring action with Stepinac netting two straight at the ten and seven minute marks. The Prep tied it up off a Will Rice ‘20 (New Rochelle) save who scooped up the loose ball and headed upfield starting a fast break and finding Stephen Zupicich ‘19 who eventually got the ball to Brendan Sowarby ‘19 (Manhattan) who tied it up 2 - 2. With about two minutes to go in the half the Rams got a man up opportunity, working it to perfection moving the ball around the horn and forcing defensive rotation until an open Quinn Beyer ‘19 (Rye) deposited it in the top corner. A unsettled transition goal by Stepinac with 20 seconds remaining sent the game into the half knotted 3 - 3.

Jack Stroligo ‘19 opened the scoring in the second half, driving down the right alley and putting his shot in the lower left corner of the cage. The Rams then extended their lead off a restart when Stephen Zupicich ‘19 launched a half field pass to Quinn English ‘19 (Port Chester)who quickly got it to Quinn Beyer ‘19 who registered his second goal of the day.

The Prep defense kept a lid on the Crusader offense for much of the fourth quarter until Stepinac scored with six minutes to go, cutting the lead to 5 - 4. However, Quinn English ‘19 answered with an unassisted goal to take the lead back up to two. Stepinac ended up scoring one with four seconds remaining for the 6 - 5 final.

Stat Line: Beyer ‘19 2G, Stroligo ‘19 1G/1A, Zupicich ‘19 1G/1A, English ‘19 1G/1A, Sowarby ‘19 1G, Rice ‘20 10 saves

Iona Prep Recap (L 9 - 3)

The host Gaels got on the board first taking the 1 - 0 lead but both teams settled in and battled for the remainder of the first quarter until the two minute mark when Iona went man up. Working the ball around they eventually found someone on the crease who made the lead 2 - 0.

Fordham couldn’t capitalize on a couple early second quarter opportunities and a nice Iona save kept it 2 - 0 until another man up situation gave the Gaels their third goal. The Rams answered inside the nine minute mark when defenseman Stephen Zupicich ‘19 scored an unassisted behind the back goal which bounced top shelf on the Iona goalie. The Gaels then notched one more around the five minute mark to go up 4 - 1. Thirty seconds later Mekhi Simpson ‘20 (New Rochelle) found Stephen Zupicich ‘19 who scored his second behind the back goal of the game from roughly the same distance as his first one. A save by Will Rice ‘20 with 2:20 to go kept the lead at two until Iona found the back of the net to make it 5 - 2 with 1:30 left in the half. A nice strip by Zupicich ‘19 as time was expiring got the ball going the other way but a last second Fordham shot from outside got saved and we ended the half with Iona up 5 - 2

The time of possession heavily favored Iona in the first half and the Gaels continued to wear down the Prep defense in the third quarter with long possessions. The Rams had several nice defensive stops picking off some passes but that much time on the defensive end eventually leads to goals, and the Gaels picked up four more in the quarter. The 9 - 3 lead could have been much more if Will Rice ‘20 hadn’t made some key saves including one on man down and another on a worm burner from close range.

The Rams kept fighting in the fourth quarter yielding no goals the rest of the game. The team possessed the ball better but couldn’t come away with anything as a couple nice looks resulted in Iona saves. Additionally, the Gaels killed a Fordham man up opportunity late in the quarter before Roman Cammarota ‘20 (Irvington) found Quinn English ‘19 with about a minute to go to make it 9 - 3, where it stood at the final whistle.

Stat Line: Zupicich ‘19 2G, English ‘19 1G, Simpson ‘20 1A